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List of Presidents of India

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India. The President is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of India.[1] Although the president is vested such powers by the constitution of India, the position is largely a ceremonial role and the executive powers are de facto exercised by the Cabinet Ministers and Prime Minister.[2] The post of President is known in Hindi as Rashtrapati, a Sanskrit neologism meaning "lord of the realm". The President is elected by an electoral college composed of elected members of the parliament houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and also members of the Vidhan Sabha, the state legislative assemblies.[1]

There have been 13 Presidents of India since the introduction of the post in 1950. The post was established when India was declared as a republic with the adoption of the Indian constitution.[3] Apart from these twelve, three acting presidents have also been in office for short periods of time. Varahagiri Venkata Giri became Acting President of India in 1969 following the death of Zakir Hussain, who died in office. Giri was elected President a few months later. He remains the only person to have held office both as a president and acting president. The President may remain in office for a tenure of five years, as stated by article 56, part V, of the constitution of India. In the case where a president's term of office is terminated early or during the absence of the president, the vice president assumes office. By article 70 of part V, the parliament may decide how to discharge the functions of the president where this is not possible, or in any other unexpected contingency.[1] Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, is the only person to have held office for two terms.[4] Seven presidents have been members of a political party before being elected. Six of these were active party members of the Indian National Congress. The Janata Party has had one member, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, who later became president. Two presidents, Zakir Hussain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, have died in office. Their vicepresidents functioned as acting president until a new president was elected. Following Hussain's death, two acting presidents held office until the new president, Varahagiri Venkata Giri, was elected. Varahagiri Venkata Giri himself, Hussain's vice president, was the first acting president. When Giri resigned to take part in the presidential elections, he was superseded by Muhammad Hidayatullah as acting president.[5] The current President is Pranab Mukherjee elected on 25 July 2012. Mukherjee held various posts in the cabinet ministry for the Government of India such as Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, Defence Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission. He originally comes from West Bengal and is also the first Bengali to hold the post of the President.[6] The ex- president, Pratibha Patil, who was in office till 25 July 2012, was elected as the 12th President of India in 2007. She is also the first woman to serve as President of India.[7]

The Main Gate of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of the President of India

2 See also 3 References 4 External links

PresidentsThis list is numbered based on Presidents elected after winning an Indian Presidential election. The terms of Varahagiri Venkata Giri, Muhammad Hidayatullah, and Basappa Danappa Jatti, who have functioned as acting presidents, are therefore not numbered. The President of India does not represent any political party. The colours used in the table indicate the following: The symbol (*) with a light brown background indicates an Acting President of India. # Name Portrait Took office Left office Vice President Notes

Rajendra Prasad(18841963)

26 January 1950

13 May 1962

1952 election page & 1957 election page Prasad was the first President of independent India from Bihar.[8][9] He was also Sarvepalli an independence Radhakrishnan activist of the Indian Independence Movement.[10] Prasad was the only president to serve for two terms in office.[4] 1962 election page Radhakrishnan was a prominent philosopher, writer, a Knight of the Realm and also held the position of vice chancellor of the Zakir Hussain Andhra University and Banaras Hindu University.[11] He was also made a Knight of the Golden Army of Angels by Pope Paul VI.[12]

Varahagiri Venkata Giri

1967 election page Hussain was vice chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University and a recipient of Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna.[13] He died before his term of office was ended. Giri was appointed as Acting President of India following the death of Hussain.[14] He resigned in a few months to take part in the presidential elections.[5] Hidayatullah served as the Chief Justice of India, and was a recipient of the Order of the British Empire.[15] He served as Acting President of India until the election of Giri as the President of India.

Varahagiri Venkata Giri *

(18941980)

3 May 1969

20 July 1969

Muhammad Hidayatullah *(19051992)

20 July 1969

24 August 1969

Varahagiri Venkata Giri

(18941980)

24 August 1969

24 August 1974

1969 election page Giri is the only person to have served as both an acting president and president of India. He Gopal Swarup was a recipient of the Pathak Bharat Ratna, and has functioned as Indian Minister of Labour and High Commissioner to Ceylon (Sri Lanka).[16] 1974 election page Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed served as a Minister before being elected as

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

(19051977)

24 August 1974

11 February 1977

Basappa president. He died in Danappa Jatti 1977 before his term of office ended, and was the second Indian president to have died during a term of office.[17] Jatti was the vice president of India during Ahmed's term of office, and was sworn in as Acting President of India upon Ahmed's death. He earlier functioned as the Chief Minister for the State of Mysore.[17][18] 1977 election page N.S.Reddy was the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh State. Reddy was the only Member of Parliament from the Janata Party to get elected from Andhra Pradesh.[19] He was unanimously elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha on 26 March 1977 and relinquished this office on 13 July 1977 to become the 6th President of India.

Basappa Danappa Jatti *

(19122002)

11 February 1977

25 July 1977

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy

(19131996)

25 July 1977

25 July 1982

Muhammad Hidayatullah

Giani Zail Singh

(19161994)

25 July 1982

25 July 1987

1982 election page In March 1972, Singh assumed the position of Ramaswamy chief Minister of Venkataraman Punjab, and in 1980, he became Union Home Minister.[20] 1987 election page In 1942,

Venkataraman was jailed by the British for his involvement in the India's independence movement.[21] After his release, he was elected Shankar Dayal to independent Indias Sharma Provisional Parliament as a member of the Congress Party in 1950 and eventually joined the central government, where he first served as Minister of Finance and Industry and later as Minister of Defence.[22] 1992 election page Sharma was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, and the Indian Kocheril Raman Minister for Narayanan Communications. He has also served as the governor of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra.[23] 1997 election page Narayanan served as India's ambassador to Thailand, Turkey, China and United States of America. He received doctorates in Krishan Kant Science and Law and was also a chancellor in several universities.[24] He was also the vicechancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University.[25] 2002 election page Kalam, is a scientist

who played a leading role in the development Bhairon Singh of India's ballistic Shekhawat missile and nuclear weapons programs.[26] He also received the Bharat Ratna. Kalam was affectionately known as the People's President.[27][28][29] 2007 election page Patil is the first woman to become the Mohammad President of India. She Hamid Ansari was also the first female Governor of Rajasthan.[30][31] 2012 election page Mukherjee held various posts in the cabinet ministry for the Government of India Mohammad such as Finance Hamid Ansari Minister, Foreign Minister, Defence Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.[32]

External linksOfficial website of the President of India (http://presidentofindia.nic.in/) Rediff.com Presidents of India (http://im.rediff.com/news/2007/jul/25kbk.gif) The Hindu A presidential poll in the coalition age (http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/18/stories/2007071855791100.htm) Zee News: Former Presidents (http://www.zeenews.com/news383392.html)

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